Nick Kyrgios jokes that he feels ‘like 57’ due to ‘all the drinking and partying’

Nick Kyrgios has once again hinted that he will walk away from tennis in the next few years, saying the “out of control” tennis schedule coupled with “all the drinking and partying” will eventually take its toll.

The 28-year-old has in the past made it clear that he will retire at a young age and he plans to stick to his guns.

Many tennis players are playing well into their 30s these days with Roger Federer playing past his 40th birthday while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are still going despite being 37 and 36, respectively.

During an interview at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, Kyrgios was asked about what comes next and said: “No f***ing chance [I am playing until that age]. No way. Bro, there’s no chance I’m playing until 33.

“Kyrgios playing until 33 is insane! I’m not playing until 33.

“Nah, I promise you, when I’m gone, you’ll never see me again.”

He then added: “The schedule is out of control. I’m getting old. I’m getting old. Twenty-eight. Yeah. But all the drinking and partying, I’m like 57.”

The Australian has in the past opened up about his struggles with alcohol and drug abuse as in 2019 in checked himself into London psychiatric hospital following his exit from Wimbledon after reaching “the lowest point of my career”.

“I was drinking, abusing drugs, lost my relationship with my family, pushed all my close friends away,” he said during the Netflix docuseries Break Point.

“You could tell I was hurting. My whole arm was covered in scars. That’s why I actually got my arm sleeve. To cover it all.”

He added: “I was genuinely contemplating if I wanted to commit suicide. I lost at Wimbledon. I woke up and my dad was sitting on the bed, full-blown crying. That was the big wake-up call for me.

“I was like: “OK, I can’t keep doing this. I ended up in a psych ward in London to figure out my problems.”

On the back of a brilliant 2022 campaign that saw him start the year off by winning the Australian Open men’s doubles title alongside his friend Thanasi Kokkinakis, finish runner-up at Wimbledon and also win the ATP 500 Citi Open, many were hoping Kyrgios would kick on this season.

However, a knee injury forced him to miss the start of the campaign – including the Australian Open – while a foot problem kept him out of the French Open.

He finally made his return at the Stuttgart Open in June, but lost his opening match and then withdrew from the Halle Open and Wimbledon.

He will now also miss his Citi Open title defence and it remains to be seen if he will play at the Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open or the US Open.

READ MORE: Nick Kyrgios opens up about mental health struggles – ‘I ended up in a psych ward’